Musings from a Kentucky born, Nashville native.

Sazerac Rye

My husband tells me I should branch out further from bourbon. But then he also drinks vodka from time to time, which is not a brown liquor and therefore dead to me.

He’s a big fan of rye and likes to celebrate Fryedays. Before we’d met, I’d never had a rye to my knowledge, and to his mistake, he introduced me to rye with a 6 year Willet Reserve. It’s an absolutely exquisite whiskey and a top notch sample of the genre, so it pretty much rendered any further ryes inadequate. I know, I know- first world problems. Nevertheless, when your first sip of any liquor is the top shelf, you sort of develop a skewed expectation. As a result, I declared rye not my thing.

Until Sazerac Rye…

It was an easy sell for me since it’s comes from Buffalo Trace, whom I’m sure can do no wrong. It’s sometimes lovingly referred to as baby Saz as the BTAC Sazerac is considered the gold standard. However, the $30 price tag won over any complaints I might have made about giving it a try.

Sazerac Rye is more on the bourbon side than I had expected, which obviously was preferable for me. It reminded me of Hirsch, Basil Hayden’s, and some of the other rye heavy mash blends of which I am a fan. It has citrusy notes with a hint of spice. We’re talking pie spice, not Booker’s hot spice. The licorice presence stated on BT’s description is apt. Overall, it’s just a really refreshing whiskey without compromising on flavor or proof.

Sazerac definitely falls into the “new favorite thing” category. I recognize that it’s not the ryest of ryes, but it’s enough to inspire me to branch out a bit. Score one for hubs!